The Elements of Power: A Story of War, Technology, and the Dirtiest Supply Chain on Earth

Journalist Niarchos debuts with an impressive investigation into the global race to acquire the raw materials needed to power electric vehicles, cellphones, laptops, and other devices. These technologies rely on lithium-ion batteries, which are made of metals such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel, as well as materials like graphite, silicone, and phosphate—all of which, Niarchos explains, have become increasingly valuable as wealthy countries seek to wean themselves off fossil fuels and electrify their economies. But this “green transition” has been a pernicious trade-off: “cleaner power at home for pollution and suffering elsewhere,” according to Niarchos, who travels to mineral-rich places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, and the Western Sahara to chronicle the battery supply chain. He reports on the mining economy in southern Congo, where companies send children into perilous mines and offer workers little protective equipment against the lethal materials they encounter, and details how metal refining facilities spew smog over an Indonesian rainforest and leak toxic waste into rivers that locals rely on. Niarchos pairs these devastating accounts with a detailed history of Western colonization and the scientific discoveries that led to the batteries widely used today. Readers won’t look at their smartphones the same way again. (Jan.)